Marie
walked out on her husband after the second slap and has been standing on her
own two well-heeled feet ever since. To say she has trust issues is the tip of
the proverbial iceberg. In her opinion, a steady man is a luxury, not a
necessity.
Cole has a long history of impulsivity and a
savior complex as big as his shoe size. A laundry list of guilt and bad
decisions follow him wherever he goes. What he lacks in judgement he makes up
for with heart and good intentions.
Thrown together by fate, the unlikely pair must
decide whether what they have is love or just the thrill of the chase.
Eagle Mountain is the fourth book in Hillary Devisser’s Coal Country series of romance novels set in southern Illinois. Having read and enjoyed Eagle Mountain’s three predecessors, I was eagerly anticipating this latest instalment of lovely, uplifting reads. I’m pleased to say I was not disappointed.
The heroine of the story is Marie, a fiercely independent woman from St Louis who has had more than her fair share of tough times. Bitter experience has hardened her views on love, and in the wake of yet another failed romance, she decides to take a break from the city and do some much-needed healing against the backdrop of a forest retreat. There she meets Cole, whom fans of the series may remember as one of the male protagonists from the first Coal Country novel, The Fishing Hole. Like Marie, Cole comes with a whole lot of baggage, but it seems like it’s not always opposites that attract and, very quickly, sparks begin to fly. But with old habits dying hard and old flames reappearing, the path to true love is far from smooth.
As in the previous books, Devisser employs a third-person narrative, which works well for giving equal insight into both protagonists’ thoughts and experiences. Devisser has a talent for creating likable, memorable characters, with Marie and Cole being no exception. For the avid reader of this series, there is the added bonus that Devisser reintroduces characters from the previous books in a supporting cast of relatable, down-to-earth people who bring a smile to your face. Equally smile-inducing is the setting; the small town, the dense forests and the mountain roads, all beautifully described. I’ve never visited southern Illinois, but Devisser’s writing makes me feel as though I should.
Eagle Mountain is a gently-paced read, but not without its twists and turns – the ending, in particular, was quite unexpected. Like the previous Coal Country novels, however, it succeeds in being a real feel-good romance. This is the sort of book you can curl up with on a chilly autumn day, whilst wearing woolly socks and sipping a mug of hot chocolate. Five stars.
Eagle Mountain will be released on 1st October 2019. Pre-order your copy here. To find out more about Hillary Devisser’s books, visit her website or Goodreads page.